Beaumont forecasts deficit of €10m for this year

HospitalsOne of the country's largest acute hospitals, Beaumont in Dublin, has forecast an "unmanageable" financial deficit of €10 million for the year.

The hospital has warned of a new financial crisis despite plans by the Health Service Executive (HSE) to provide around €70 million in supplementary funding for the hospital sector.

Beaumont has indicated to the HSE that in the absence of this additional funding it would be facing a deficit of around €25 million and would have to embark on a programme of bed closures and cancel development plans.

The hospital's financial controller, Gus Mulligan, has written to the HSE and warned that even if it received 20 per cent of the proposed €70 million supplementary funding on offer that Beaumont would still "be left with an unmanageable deficit of €10 million even after taking all the measures we can to defer spending and withstand supplier price increases".

Mr Mulligan told the HSE that the situation the hospital was facing was now urgent.

The current health budget is based on the principle of providing sufficient funding to maintain the existing level of service in hospitals around the country.

Beaumont has maintained that the concept of existing level of service (ELS) presents it with particular difficulties.

"The number of beds which were open on average throughout 2004 was approximately 30 less than the current bed complement. Therefore, for Beaumont to deliver ELS, we would have to immediately close those beds with disastrous effects on the service," Mr Mulligan told the HSE.

Beaumont has maintained to the HSE that it was facing costs of around €7 million this year in respect of previously closed beds which were re-opened last year and as a result of developments such as an expansion of interventional cardiology and the provision of additional haemodialysis stations.

Management has also maintained that inadequate funding was provided to deliver the strategy for the involvement of Beaumont consultants in the provision of services at St Joseph's Hospital in Raheny.

"The current shortfall on this front is €2.25 million which will rise further in 2006 as the strategy is fully rolled out. There does not seem to be any practicable way the St Joseph's strategy can be rolled back at this stage," Beaumont has told the HSE.

The hospital has also maintained that it does not have the money to implement the additional services which were deferred in 2003 and 2004 as a result of other financial difficulties at the time.

"By agreement with the [ former] Eastern Regional Health Authority we deferred a number of important projects, including the symptomatic breast service, breast surgery and (a) new oncologist. The savings were used to shore up the deficit on 2003 and 2004. All of these projects have now been implemented in 2005 and there is a cost of €1.86 million for which we have currently no funding."

Beaumont also maintained that, in effect, it had received no additional funding to meet the cost of the appointment of new neurophysiology consultants.

The hospital also warned that it would be facing a cost of around €1.1 million arising from the introduction of a new oncology drug, Avastin. The hospital said that it had signalled to health authorities 18 months ago of the costs of the introduction of this drug.

The warning of the new cash crisis at Beaumont comes only weeks after the Mater Hospital in Dublin was forecasting a deficit of around €20 million.